'Jesus was married' evidence is questioned
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Is a scrap of papyrus suggesting that Jesus had a wife authentic? Scholars were yesterday questioning the much-publicised discovery by a Harvard scholar that a 4th-century fragment of papyrus provided the first evidence that some early Christians believed Jesus was married.
Experts in the illicit antiquities trade were also wondering about the motive of the fragment's anonymous owner, noting that the document's value has likely to have increased amid the publicity of the find.
Karen King, a professor at Harvard Divinity School, announced the finding earlier in the week at an international congress on Coptic studies in Rome. The text, written in Coptic, contains a dialogue in which Jesus refers to "my wife," whom he identifies as Mary.
Yesterday, Ms King's paper was a hot topic of conversation at the conference. Christian tradition has long held that Jesus was unmarried, although there is no reliable historical evidence to support that. Stephen Emmel, a professor at the University of Münster, said the text accurately quotes Jesus as saying "my wife." But he said "there's something about this fragment in its appearance and also in the grammar of the Coptic that strikes me as being not completely convincing somehow". AP
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments